Do Not Cross

This past week was my first week at my new job. I’d rather not go into details, but I will say that I love my new job. The people are great, the atmosphere is very laid back, and I’m loving what I’m doing. Even my commute isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. My entire commute is in the opposite direction of the rush, so that makes it very easy to do.

This upcoming week I begin my last semester at The George Washington University. I’m excited to be finished with this program. I’ve been in school for seven years now and I’m ready to be done for good. As of now, I have no desire to get a PhD in anything, so I’m pretty sure I’m done for a long time. Who knows, maybe in the future I’ll pursue some sort of forensic science PhD, but for now, I’m happy working and gaining experience.

This semester, I’m taking three courses. I’ll be taking Firearms and Toolmark Examination, Trace Evidence Analysis, and Moot Court. Out of all of these, I’m most excited to be taking the firearms course. I don’t know anything about guns and I’ve been eager to learn about how they can be forensically analyzed.

Farewell Cake
Originally uploaded by fallenposters

Friday was my last day at the Arlington County Police Department.

All day long I had mixed feelings. On the one hand I was really sad to leave. I had worked at ACPD for over a year and have really gotten to know my co-workers well and have grown to seeing them as almost a second family. On the other hand, I was really excited to be leaving. I start my first real full-time job on Monday.

For the past month, I’ve been preparing to leave by training my replacement, Derek, catching up on work that had piled up, and writing manuals for future Student Aides. On Friday, we had a farewell lunch in my unit. My boss bought everyone lunch from El Pollo Rico and a cake from Randolph’s in Arlington. It was a fun lunch and it made me even sadder to leave.

Looking back, this job fell into my lap through the thanks of both my adviser at GWU and God. The job at ACPD gave me experience great working in forensics — which is what I think helped me land my new job.

Looking ahead, I will be now commuting down to Quantico working as a physical scientist at the FBI Laboratory. I start work on Monday and I’m scared shitless. But I know that it will work out great and it will be another great stepping stone for my forensics career. I can’t wait :-D.

Tomorrow I will be heading back to work after ye ole surgery. I’m excited that I’m going back to work, yet at the same time, I’m frightened because I don’t want to be in pain while I’m at work (I guess that’s what the Percocet is for, duh). Sometimes I worry that I push myself too hard when it comes to things like this. Its difficult for me to miss work since I don’t get benefits. So if I want to get paid, I’ve got to work. Its as simple as that. But I think I’ll be able to handle going back tomorrow.

My job isn’t very high-impact or anything like that. I just kind of sit in a cube all day and log crime-scene photos and file all day. I’m kind of an office gopher. But I love the work and the people I work with are the best. The only problem is the sitting part. The chair I have sucks to the extreme. So that is why tomorrow, I will be using my Target bag to carry my lovely ass-pillow with me to work. This is just a simple couch throw pillow, but it works like a charm for helping with the butt pain. And since I carry it around with a Target bag, I can use it on the Metro and on my shuttle bus that I ride from the Metro station to my apartment.

My ass-pillow definitely works much better than those donut pillows they always recommend. I bought one of the inflatable kind to try out and they are awful. They help for a short amount of time, yet they kill my legs if I sit on it for a long time–like at my job. So yeah, they may help your butt from hurting a bit, but they make your legs so damn sore its not even worth it.

Just say “no” to donut pillows!

The US Mint announced today that they will be re-introducing the dollar coin into circulation next year. But this time, they will be distributing them similar to the recent 50 state quarter series. This time, every year the US Mint will distribute four coins that will have four of our presidents printed on them, in the order of which they served. The process will start with George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison in 2007. Since a president cannot be featured on currency until at least 2 years after his death, the program is slated to last until 2016, with the issuing of Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan coins. But by then, Ford, Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, or Bush Jr. could kick the bucket and land on a coin.

I’m excited about this program, mainly because I really enjoyed the 50 state quarter program. I enjoyed the idea of finding a new design for the coin every few months. Similar to how I love it when the US Mint changes designs in the paper currency. For instance, all the new watermarking and slight changes in portrait size and positions in the new $10 and $20 bills.

One thing I’m concerned about is that will people accept the idea of a $1 coin? Its already failed twice in in the past (Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea coins). I would like the idea of a $1 coin, but I think a lot of people don’t like the idea because they don’t want to carry around all that change. But think of it this way, is it better to be able to carry around four quarters, or one dollar coin? And it’ll be less singles you’ll have to put into your bulky wallet. And if you lessen the amount of bulk in your wallet, your posture will be better when you sit. And with better posture, you will have less back problems. With less back problems, Americans won’t have to go to the doctor as much, thus lowering the amount spent on healthcare each year. Thus the cost of healthcare reduces.

See, the goverment just wants to help.